Thai Airways International resumes normal flights to Tokyo after Narita and Haneda airports reopen /MCOT

• Kyodo News - BREAKING NEWS: Fukushima nuke plant might be experiencing nuclear meltdown

NHK just reporting that cesium as been detected in the area around the Fukushima No. 1 plant, and the fuel rods may have melted.

Also Kyodo:

Radioactive Cesium detected near Fukushima plant: nuke safety commission.

NHK previously reporting that the govt earlier Sat. had dispatched a nuclear emergency medical team of specially trained doctors and nurses from Tokyo to near the Fukushima plant in case needed.

Edited March 12, 201115 yr by jfchandler

Japan nuclear authorities say high possibility of meltdown at Fukushima Daiichi No.1 reactor - Jiji: /RT @REUTERSFLASH:

Japan's Kyodo News Service: BREAKING NEWS: Radioactive Cesium detected near Fukushima plant /RT @cbn2: http://bit.ly/hOeD6x /RT @octavianasr:

TEPCO has been providing updates on its web site in Japanese.... but they don't translate very well...

http://www.tepco.co.jp/index-j.html

They also have an English language page, which has little of relevance at the moment....

http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/index-e.html

Nuclear expert tells The Times: meltdown has technically begun at Fukushima. /Via @W7VOA @martyn_williams /RT @octavianasr: #Japan RT @dicklp:

Japan nuclear authorities say high possibility of meltdown at Fukushima Daiichi No.1 reactor - Jiji: /RT @REUTERSFLASH:

Can only imagine that this could well get worse on an unimaginable scale.

#Japan's NHK World: Venting air from reactor container suspended due to high levels of radiation at the site /RT @octavianasr: RT @cbn2:

Japan : link to very bad #news NHK meltdown report: http://bit.ly/dGav8u /RT @octavianasr: RT @TheGrottoTweets: /RT @maddow

Nuclear reactor 3 at Fukushima plant 2 was sucessfully stopped (asahi.com) / via @karoli /RT @octavianasr: /RT @ocilam:

This is the latest from Kyodo... Nothing more about the potential meltdown issue....

Though NHK is quoting a scientist as saying the presence of cesium and iodine in the plant area may mean that part of the uranium fuel rods' container at the plant may have melted. Also saying the fuel rods have been exposed by 1.7 meters.

Work underway to release nuke container pressure to avert meltdown

TOKYO, March 12, Kyodo

The operator of nuclear plants in Fukushima Prefecture, which was severely hit by a powerful quake on Friday, has been scrambling to release pressure in containers housing their reactors to prevent a nuclear meltdown, the nuclear safety agency said Saturday.

Even before Tokyo Electric Power Co. succeed in reducing the pressure, which would involve the release of steam that would likely include radioactive materials, radiation has risen to an unusually high level in and near Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant, it said.

Work to depressurize the containers, aimed at preventing the plants from sustaining damage and losing their critical containment function, has been conducted under an unprecedented government order.

While the agency denies that the radiation amount will pose an immediate threat to the health of nearby residents, those who live in the vicinity of the Fukushima No. 1 plant from a 3-kilometer radius to 10 km and those in a radius of 3 kilometers of the No. 2 plant have been ordered to evacuate the area.

The Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency said TEPCO officials encountered difficulties in opening a valve to release the container's pressure due to high radioactive level, while the evacuation of nearby residents has not been completed yet.

At the No. 1 plant, the amount of radiation reached around 1,000 times the normal level in the control room of the No. 1 reactor, and 70 times the normal level near the main gate of the plant. It is the first time an external radioactive leak was confirmed since the disaster.

==Kyodo

http://english.kyodo...1/03/77028.html

Edited March 12, 201115 yr by jfchandler

The #Japan Nuclear Industrial Safety Agency website is http://bit.ly/gOpUNy /via @buvery @W7VOA /RT @octavianasr: RT @tmiyagi:

Fukushima operator to AFP: "We believe the reactor is not melting down or cracking. We are trying to raise water level." /RT @octavianasr

1-888-407-4747 or +1-202-501-444 email [email protected] for info on US citizens in Japan. /RT @octavianasr: MT @AmbassadorRoos:

So I guess when they planned "worst case scenario" it was far from your everyday garden variety emergency. Or even anticipated mishap. Monkeys football.

Self Defense Forces 3 to 5 pump trucks are still pouring water into the reactor. the metal fuel assembly may be melted.

via the ministry of foreign affair, already requested cooperation from US forces in Japan.

sources : www.asahi.com Mar 12, 2011 at 14.55h Japan time

Asahi News states that the fuel assembly is melt at 2,700 to 2,800 degree. it was a similar problem in the Three Miles Island nuclear plant in US, in 1979.

source : www.asahi.com Mar 12, 2011 at 15.30h Japan time

anyone one can recall the previous incident ?

Long and detailed report from the Wall Street Journal today on the nuclear situation:

Japan Nuclear Reactor May Be in Meltdown

Government Evacuates 20,000 People Near Troubled Facilities, as Vapor Is Vented to Ease Pressure; 11 Reactors Are Closed

By YUKA HAYASHI and REBECCA SMITH

Japanese nuclear authorities said Saturday afternoon that a nuclear reactor about 150 miles north of Tokyo may be experiencing a meltdown after Friday's massive earthquake damaged its cooling systems.

Authorities said they were pouring water into the Fukushima Daiichi No. 1 nuclear reactor to stop the meltdown.

Earlier, radiation leaked out of one of the nation's nuclear-power plants early Saturday morning after Friday's earthquake caused a power outage that disabled its cooling system, and new problems were reported at another plant nearby.

The utility also said Saturday that the fuel rods could be suffering damage, a scenario that could raise the chances of unplanned radioactive releases.

MORE: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703597804576194123030511478.html?mod=asia_home

not sure if it is a good news :

TEPCO confirmed that after open the valve and release the steam pressure, the Fukushima Daiichi reactor pressure lowered from previous kPa800 ( it should be kPa400 ).

the leak of radioactive cesium increases the radioactive level around the nuclear plant.

source : www.asahi.com Mar 12, 2011 at 15.43h Japan time

Edited March 12, 201115 yr by ETatBKK

NHK: Govt says 80,000 people live within 10K evactuation area around stricken Fukushima No. 1 plant. NHK says government providing 100 buses to help evacuate residents.

NHK begins broadcasting instructions for residents to avoid or minimize radiation exposure, such as covering skin and sealing doorways.

Updates quake-tsunami death toll to about 1,000 and 600 missing.

Edited March 12, 201115 yr by jfchandler

Kyodo News likewise is reporting pressure was "successfully" vented from Plant 1...

But it's not clear, to me at least, what bearing that has on the issue of the fuel rods overheating and/or melting due to lack of adequate cooling.

not sure if it is a good news :

TEPCO confirmed that after open the valve and release the steam pressure, the Fukushima Daiichi reactor pressure lowered from previous kPa800 ( it should be kPa400 ).

Asahi News confirms the shortage of suuplies, including convenience stores and food chains in northeast prefectures.

this is due to logistic and power shortage issues in the area.

TEPCO's English language web site is now providing periodic updates on its Daichi and Daini reactors...

The latest on the critical Daichi ones (Fukushima 1-3) from the company as of 1 pm Japan time.

Press Release (Mar 12,2011)

Plant Status of Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station (as of 1PM March 12th )

All 6 units of Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station have been shut down.

Unit 1(Shut down)

- Reactor has been shut down and steam in reactor has been cooled by isolation condenser, but it is now stopped. Because pressure level in reactor containment vessel is increasing, following the national

government instruction, we are implementing a measure to reduce the pressure of the reactor containment vessels in order to fully secure safety. Reactor water level is decreasing, we will continue injecting water step by step.

Unit 2(Shut down)

- Reactor has been shut down and we continue injecting water by Reactor Core Isolation Cooling System. Current reactor water level is lower than normal level, but the water level is steady. Following the national government instruction, we are preparing to implement a measure to reduce the pressure of the reactor containment vessels in order to fully secure safety.

Unit 3(Shut down)

- Reactor has been shut down and we continue injecting water by Reactor Core Isolation Cooling System. Following the national government instruction, we are preparing to implement a measure to reduce the pressure of the reactor containment vessels in order to fully secure safety.

- Currently, we do not believe there is any reactor coolant leakage inside the reactor containment vessel.

http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/index-e.html

Edited March 12, 201115 yr by jfchandler

Media also talking about local water systems being disabled and/or contaminated, and the government mobilizing water trucks into the northeastern prefectures.

Asahi News confirms the shortage of suuplies, including convenience stores and food chains in northeast prefectures.

this is due to logistic and power shortage issues in the area.

16:18pm Peter Hayes, a nuclear expert, tells Al Jazeera "it's still possible that the reactor workers can stabilise the situation" at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant "if power is brought back, if coolant is brought into the reactor", but "we're really right at the precipice of a massive nuclear crisis".

3:49pm

At least 703 people have been confirmed killed in the earthquake but the government voiced fears that more than 1,000 had died.

You know at the end of the supermarket video James...was I hearing things or was that still the checkout beeps on the scanners still merrily going?...You have to admire the Japanese for their consciencous work ethic...right till the impending end!!!No wonder the camera kept zooming in on the fallen bottles of Johnny Walker Black as they are 450$ in a bar in Tokyo...Loved the girls holding up the shelves of wine and booze...No thoughts of self preservation involved there!!

raw video http://www.youtube.com/citizentube

http://www.youtube.c...1/1/8eIVp8EwG5Y

Edited March 12, 201115 yr by sydneyjed

Explosion heard at TEPCO's Fukushima Daiichi plant around 0630 GMT - media /RT @REUTERSFLASH:

[2:17 a.m. ET, 4:17 p.m. Tokyo] Japanese public broadcaster NHK reported Saturday that the death toll after an 8.9-magnitude earthquake and tsunami is more than 900, with about 700 others reported missing.

Earlier Saturday the nation's Kyodo News News Agency, citing police, reported that the death toll was 433, with at least 784 missing. (CNN)

Explosion heard at quake-hit Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan - AFP via Sky News: /RT @BreakingNews:

Several people appear to have been injured after reported Fukushima plant explosion - media: /RT @REUTERSFLASH: